Last Modified: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at 1:04 p.m.

Double-murder suspect Kelvin Lee Coleman, 37, leaves the room after making his first court appearance via video camera at the Marion County Jail on Wednesday morning.

Bruce Ackerman/Star-Banner

Facts

MOTEL OWNER

The Vacation Host Inn property at 3330 S. Pine Ave. is owned by Alkazoom Investments, Inc., whose president is listed as Sultanali N. Saferali of Windermere. The vice president and secretary is listed as Shiraz K. Damji, whose address is the same as the motel.

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At the time, the deputy did not have grounds to arrest the man, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office. A motel owner said the deputy advised her to pursue an eviction through the courts.

The suspect, Kelvin Lee Coleman, 37, is being held on two counts of first-degree murder and one count each of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and attempted first-degree murder.

He made his first court appearance via video from the county jail Wednesday morning. Dressed in a full red jail jumpsuit and wearing shackles, Coleman cracked a half smile at times and smirked as he walked toward the podium. Then he stood beside an assistant public defender.

County Judge Tommy Thompson reviewed Coleman's arrest report and denied him bail, citing a danger to the community. His next court date is April 16.

According to a report by sheriff's Detective Rhonda Stroup, Marion County Public Safety dispatch received a 911 call about 5 p.m. Tuesday regarding an altercation in the lobby at the Vacation Host Inn.

Deputies arrived at the motel, 3330 S. Pine Ave., and talked with the desk clerk, identified as Rickisha Hawkins. She told the deputy that Penny Coleman and Kelvin Coleman had come to the office and were yelling at her about an employee who also lives on the property.

The employee, Rebecca Crew, allegedly had talked with the Colemans' child about riding a bicycle near the windows. That issue caused an argument in the lobby.

Detective Erik Dice talked to Kelvin Coleman at his room, according to the report, and Coleman told the detective the people at the motel were "wanna-be gangsters" but he was the only real gangster. Penny Coleman said the staff at the motel were unprofessional and had issues with her children being mixed race.

A deputy contacted all the parties involved and determined there was no evidence of a criminal act justifying an arrest.

At 8:57 p.m., someone again called 911, this time to report a shooting at the motel.

When deputies arrived, they found Carter already dead. Johnson was taken to Ocala Regional Medical Center, where she died.

Other people staying at the motel witnessed the shooting. John Smith said he had come out of his room to get a bucket of ice when he heard what sounded like a gunshot. Then, he said, he heard another shot and saw a man falling to the ground.

Then, Smith said, he saw Coleman standing over the helpless man, firing about four shots down at him.

It looked like Coleman would have fired more times, Smith said, if not for Johnson, who approached him and seemed to be talking to him.

Smith said Coleman stood up and shot her once or twice. After that, he began using the gun to hit the man for 20 to 30 seconds.

Coleman then went downstairs and "picked up the pace," Smith said.

Steve Schord, whose room was not far from the shooting, said he was in bed with his baby when he heard a "boom, boom" then "smash." Within seconds, he heard four more booms.

After putting the baby and his other children in the bathtub for safety, Schord left his room and saw people dragging Carter inside.

He went to Carter's room and saw him on the bed. "He didn't look good."

Next door, in Johnson's room, he saw Johnson on the floor with her head close to the dresser and her feet near the doorway.

"It was horrible, unbelievable," Schord said.

Another witness, Anthony Albert, who lives next door to Schord, said Carter was shot multiple times in the upper body, including his chest, neck and abdomen.

He said the woman appeared to have a wound in the upper right area of her chest.

Albert and another neighbor, Kimberly Webb, said the altercation was not about children riding a bicycle. Both believed it had more to do with Kelvin Coleman thinking the front desk clerk had cheated his wife out of $5.

On Tuesday night, after talking with witnesses, deputies determined that Kelvin Coleman had shot the two employees and fled in a black Nissan. Deputies were familiar with Coleman and went to a relative's address in Silver Springs Shores.

Shortly after they got there, Coleman came out and surrendered, an arrest report said.

Deputies found what appeared to be a handgun wrapped in a plastic bag. It was in plain sight in the garage, the arrest report said.

Dice conducted a photo lineup with a witness, who picked Kelvin Coleman out. The witness said that after Carter was shot, Coleman fired a shot at him as he ran into his room.

Shan Damji, one of the owners of the motel since 1997, said Penny Coleman, Kelvin's wife, has been registered there since January. Damji said they do not want children to ride their bicycles on the walkway because it's too dangerous. She said the windows are big and if the glass breaks it could hurt someone.

There's a play area in the middle of the motel complex, and Damji said she encourages parents to make their children play there.

Damji said Kelvin Coleman came to the office and was angry about the incident and threatened the clerk and cursed at her, calling her "all kinds of vulgar names."

Hawkins, the clerk, said Penny Coleman came to the office ranting and cursing, saying no one does anything. Hawkins said an employee had told her not to let the children ride their bicycle near the glass but to ride in the yard.

Penny Coleman then called her husband and wanted him to talk with her, but Hawkins said she refused.

Hawkins said Damji was notified and went to the Colemans' room to talk with Penny Coleman, but she did not answer the door.

About 15 minutes later, Hawkins said, Kelvin Coleman showed up in the office threatening her with bodily harm. Hawkins said she called 911 when he attempted to go behind the counter.

Hawkins was still there later, when the shooting started. "When I heard the first shot, I called 911 because I knew it was him," Hawkins said.

Damji said she talked with law enforcement and wanted to "put him out." The owner said she was told she would have to go through the courts to have him evicted.

"I wasn't happy. I wished they would've looked at his background. Unfortunately, two innocent lives have been lost," she said.

State records indicate Coleman has served time in prison for charges including attempted homicide. He was released from prison in July 2009. He declined a request for an interview at the Marion County Jail.

Capt. Jimmy Pogue said there's a legal process for eviction.

"We can't judge a person by their past criminal history in order to bypass the law regarding evictions," Pogue said.

Pogue said he is confident the deputies who worked the call carefully considered the circumstances and took appropriate actions.

"They have to break the law and have probable cause. We can't just put people in jail due to past history or being disruptive," he said.

Johnson was an "excellent worker" and an "angel walking on earth," Damji said. "She helped everyone around here. She didn't get into anyone's business. She was like one of my family. She lived and worked at the motel since 2004 as a housekeeper/laundry lady."

As for Carter, Damji said he worked two days a week as a landscaper and had another job working for the state road crew. He also lived at the motel.

"On Monday, he asked me if he could work extra days," Damji said.

Both employees lived next to each other on the second floor.

In recent months, the Sheriff's Office has responded to numerous calls for service at the Vacation Host Inn: 149 calls last year and 24 so far in 2013.

Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118 or austin.miller@starbanner.com.

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